👋 Welcome back to The Daily Theory, our morning rundown to help you stay on top of your favorite sport. I’m Allen McDuffee, your guide to all things tennis.

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Let’s tennis!

Five Points

🎾 Mboko continues: Victoria Mboko, the 18-year-old Canadian, is continuing her fairytale run at the National Bank Open after breezing past Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-2.

  • What she said: “I’m so excited to be in the semifinal here,” Mboko, who is ranked 85th, said in her on-court interview. “My first time playing in Montreal has been an unreal experience, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
  • The numbers: Mboko hit 32 unforced errors compared to just 9 winners — a ratio that she will have to shore up in the next round against a much tougher opponent.
  • Next: Mboko faces Elena Rybakina in the semifinals on Wednesday. They played just two weeks ago in Washington. Rybakina won in a highly competitive match, 6-3, 7-5.

🎾 A reimagined Cincy: With the Canadian Open tournaments in such a lull thanks to the schedule, it gave the Cincinnati Open organizers the perfect opportunity to unveil the completely renovated grounds for this week’s opening day. Check out this rundown, this video, this video, and this documentary. Yes, this is how you roll out a tournament.

🎾 Out at Cincy: The Cincinnati Open confirmed on Monday that Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from this year’s tournament. The former world number one, who has not competed since losing in the semifinals of Wimbledon to Jannik Sinner, withdrew citing a non-medical reason. That means Djokovic is set to play the U.S. Open without a competitive match since the grass court season.

🎾 A less surprising withdrawal: Slightly overshadowed by the Djokovic withdrawal is the exit of Nick Kyrgios from play in Cincinnati. The Australian has put his name on several entry lists this year, only to withdraw later. Perhaps not coincidentally, he said in an interview last week that he has his eyes on a new career in esports. “I would love to be [an esports] player,” Kyrgios said. “I’ve been criticized in my career for not putting enough time on the court. And I’ve missed tournaments and training because I’ve just been gaming purely because I love it and I don’t care.” There you have it. He’d rather be gaming and doesn’t care.

🎾 Here in Philly: Independent bookstore Another Corner is celebrating Tennis Month (look at those windows!😍) with tennis-themed art, amazing books from some of your favorite authors, and events with yours truly. Follow them on Instagram and sign up for the newsletter to keep up with all things tennis this month!